Court File and Parties
COURT FILE NO.: CV-20-00647722-0000
DATE: 20210721
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO
RE: SUGANAYA THARMALINGAM, Plaintiff
– and –
KENSINGTON CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED, Defendant
BEFORE: E.M. Morgan, J.
COUNSEL: Anoushka Zachariah, for the Plaintiff Jennifer Siemon, for the Respondent
HEARD: July 21, 2021
CASE CONFERANCE
[1] The parties completed discoveries and have now had two unsuccessful mediation sessions. Counsel for the Plaintiff would like to schedule a pre-trial and have the matter set down for trial.
[2] The action would have been ready for the steps proposed by Plaintiff’s counsel, but the Plaintiff has just this week served an Amended Statement of Claim. Counsel for the Defendant says that all of the Plaintiff’s requests are therefore premature, as it will have to respond to the newly amended pleading with an amended pleading of its own. The amendment may also necessitate further discoveries, although Defendant’s counsel has not yet made any determination in that regard.
[3] There is not much that can be accomplished at a case conference at this point. The Rules of Civil Procedure set out the steps and the timing involved with an amended pleading and any response to the amended pleading. Counsel will have to follow those rules and, when all of the pleadings are complete and discoveries are concluded, set the matter down for trial in the usual way.
[4] In my view, counsel should take charge of moving this matter ahead and not depend on a series of case conferences to do that for them. The Rules envision a self-directed litigation process. If one side or another encounters a logjam the case conference mechanism is available in order to assist in working it out; but in the ordinary course counsel are expected to move the matter through the pre-trial stages without putting up obstacles for each other and without seeking judicial supervision unless necessary.
Morgan J.
Date: July 21, 2021